Chapter 12 Chapter 12
Daniel stared at me like he was seeing a ghost. His eyes flicked from my face to Adrian’s jacket resting on my shoulders, then to the way Adrian stood slightly in front of me—as if shielding me.
“What the hell is this?” Daniel demanded.
My heartbeat pounded so hard it felt like my ribs were trembling. This was exactly what Adrian wanted—Daniel rattled, confused, angry. But standing there between my past and the dangerous man at my side, reality felt far heavier than the plan.
I stepped forward, but Adrian’s fingers brushed my wrist—a light touch, a warning.
Let him talk first.
Adrian’s voice dropped into that smooth, controlled tone that made people pay attention.
“You heard me,” he said. “Elena is with me.”
Mandy scoffed loudly. “Please. Elena can’t even stand up for herself, talk more of being with someone like you.”
I felt heat rise up my neck, not from shame—but from anger. And something else. A growing boldness I didn’t recognize.
Adrian didn’t even look at Mandy when he replied.
“That fragile woman you’re referring to?” he said softly. “She survived more than either of you ever could.”
My breath caught. I didn’t know whether to feel grateful or exposed.
Daniel’s jaw tightened. “Elena, get in the car. We’re going home. Enough of this childish drama.”
That was when something inside me snapped—cleanly, decisively.
“Home?” I repeated, my voice steady despite the storm inside me. “You mean the house where you threw my things outside like trash? The one you only let me into because your new… acquisition stood beside you?”
Mandy glared. “Watch your tone.”
“No,” I said calmly, “you watch yours.”
For the first time, Mandy flinched.
Good.
Daniel stepped closer, voice dropping. “You’re embarrassing yourself. Let’s not do this here.”
I lifted my chin. “I’m not the one who betrayed a five-year marriage in our own bed.”
His face paled.
Adrian said nothing—he didn’t need to. His silence was a force.
Daniel tried again. “Elena… you’re my wife. You can’t be seen with—”
“Your wife?” I cut in sharply. “You handed me divorce papers like a delivery note.”
His nostrils flared. “You haven’t signed them.”
My chest tightened. “Oh, I will.”
Mandy laughed, cold and sharp. “You think Adrian Blake wants you? He’s using you, Elena. And you’re too dumb to see it.”
I opened my mouth, but Adrian stepped forward just enough that his shadow fell over both Daniel and Mandy.
“Careful,” he told Mandy softly. “Your insecurity is showing.”
Her smile died instantly.
Daniel’s fists clenched. “I won’t stand here and listen to this.”
“Then leave,” Adrian replied.
Daniel hesitated—as if torn between pride and curiosity. His gaze drifted over me again, lingering too long on the jacket around my shoulders.
“This isn’t you,” he said quietly. “You don’t dress like this. You don’t act like this. You don’t go out with men like him.”
“Men like him?” I asked.
“You know exactly what I mean.”
I swallowed. “Maybe I’m tired of being the version of me you approved of.”
Daniel’s eyes flickered—shock, then realization, then fear.
Mandy tugged at his arm. “Daniel… let’s just go.”
He didn’t move.
Not until Adrian placed a hand on my lower back and guided me toward the car. A gesture so subtle, so controlled, yet it sent Daniel into a silent, murderous fury.
“Elena!” Daniel barked.
I didn’t turn back.
Not once.
When we reached the car, Adrian opened the passenger door for me. I slid in, my hands trembling the moment the door shut.
He rounded the car and got in beside me. Only when the engine hummed on did he speak.
“You handled that well.”
My laugh was strained. “I handled it terribly.”
“You didn’t break,” he corrected. “That’s all that matters.”
I leaned back against the seat, exhaling shakily. “I wasn’t ready to see them tonight.”
“You were,” he said. “You just didn’t know it.”
The city lights streaked past as we drove, the silence between us now thick with something unspoken.
Something charged.
“Did you plan that?” I asked quietly. “Them showing up?”
His brows lifted. “I don’t plan coincidences, Elena. Only reactions.”
“And how did I react?”
He glanced at me briefly. “Stronger than you think.”
I looked away, heat rising in my cheeks. I hated how much his approval affected me.
“We made progress tonight,” he added.
“Progress?”
“Daniel is jealous. Angry. Off-balance. Exactly where we want him.”
I nodded slowly. “So what now?”
“Now,” Adrian said, “we give him something bigger to fear.”
My heart skipped. “Bigger?”
His eyes lingered on me—for seconds too long.
“Us.”
A shiver ran through me.
We reached his penthouse. The elevator ride was quiet, the tension unbearably present. He stood close enough that I could feel the warmth from his suit. The scent of his cologne—dark, clean, nothing like Daniel’s—wrapped around me.
When the elevator door slid open, I exhaled like I’d been holding my breath the entire time.
Inside his penthouse, the lights were dim, city skyline blazing behind him like he owned it.
He loosened his tie, watching me with an unreadable expression. “Elena.”
“Yes?”
“There’s something you need to understand.”
He walked toward me slowly, stopping only when he was close enough that our breaths mingled.
“This isn’t just about revenge anymore,” he said. “Not for Daniel. He saw us tonight. And in his mind, you’re already out of his control.”
I swallowed hard. “Good.”
“It is,” Adrian said, voice low. “But it also means everything changes from here.”
“How?”
“We have to move faster. Stronger. More convincingly.”
I held his gaze. “Convincingly… as in the contract marriage?”
“Yes,” he said. “We push the narrative. Publicly. Strategically. And soon.”
A strange warmth flooded my chest—half fear, half adrenaline.
“And you’re okay with people thinking we’re… together?” I asked.
His jaw tightened a little. “If it gets us what we want—yes.”
But something flickered behind his eyes. An emotion that didn’t belong to strategy.
Something he quickly hid.
I stepped closer without realizing. “And are you sure,” I whispered, “that you won’t regret tying yourself to someone like me?”
His gaze dropped briefly to my lips.
Just once.
Then lifted again.
“Elena,” he said, voice suddenly rougher, “I don’t do regret.”
We stood there—too close, too still—while the city breathed outside the glass walls.
A moment stretched between us, thin and fragile, like if one of us exhaled too deeply, something would break.
Then—
His phone rang.
The sound sliced through the tension like a blade.
Adrian exhaled sharply, pulling himself back. He looked almost… irritated at the interruption.
He answered the call without taking his eyes off me.
“Blake speaking.”
I turned away, trying to steady my breathing.
A beat passed.
Then another.
His voice lowered. “Are you certain?”
Pause.
His tone hardened. “Send me the footage.”
Footage?
He hung up slowly.
I turned to him. “What happened?”
Adrian’s expression was unreadable—but his eyes were sharp, dangerous.
“A security camera picked something up,” he said quietly.
“Picked what?”
He stepped toward me, jaw tight.
“Elena… your accident? It wasn’t an accident.”
My breath froze